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Recoveries

Stratics Veteran

<font color=green>ooc-This thread is part of an ongoing story thread continued from the thread "Some People like the Lull..." started by our own lovely and furry, Quiby.

I encourage anyone and everyone with a desire to join in the adventure to do so. Any can feel free to enter a charecter (either good or evil or whatever kind you want) into the story at any point of the story. If anyone has doubts about when, where, or how is the best way to introduce a new charecter by all means PM me and I'll help you get into the story. Any way I every one has as much fun reading these as we have writing them. Any way time to get to the story.</font color=green>

IC-Kysh woke up slowly, not really wanting to end the dream he was having. Kysh thought it was strange how since his parents had died how he had dreamt often of his mother yet not very often of his father. And the dreams of his mother always seemed so real. Like the dream where she had first told him to go to the White Stag Inn right a couple days after their death.

In this last dream she had told him to look for something called the Rod of Ilshen. He kinda remembered Zeazrom saying something about the Rod of Ilshen, had he called his own rod that?

Well he was deffently awake now. No use fighting it. Still he kept his eyes closed. His last memory was in the dungeon wrong but he could tell by the all too familier sound coming from downstairs that he was back at the Inn. He could also hear someone else in the room and wanted to know who it was before he revealed the fact he was awake. He heard the person shuffle their feet and he detirmined it was soemone small, another child prehaps?

Kysh opened his and locked eyes with his sister. Kysh was greeted with a hard punch to his shoulder.

"It's about time you woke up! Do you know how worried I've been!"

Kysh sat up rubbing his shoulder, "Are you going to hit me every time we greet each other?"

"Only if you deserve it."

"I'll remember that. Where's Neph and Teanas?"

"Well. While you were napping that cat girl, Quiby, got hurt by some wierd dagger. Neph wasn't able to heal her so Teanas rushed back to Ilshenar to see if he could learn anything about the dagger that hurt her."

"Quiby was hurt? Where are Yuki, Xylon and Hikaru at?"

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom was ushered into a room by a couple of Evil Mages. Sitting down in the middle of the room sat and Evil Mage Lord. The evil mage lord sized up Zeazrom a moment than spoke. Welcome to to Dungeon Shame, Zeazrom. I am Xarot. What buisness does the dungeon wrong have with us?"

Hikaru and Yuki walked side-by side in silence, as they had been for almost an hour. A few metres away walked a defiant Misa; seemingly trapped by her desire to remain near Hikaru, and her intense dislike of Yuki, especially after the last time she’d approached.
Yuki had left early the morning after the prisoners had arrived, aiming to catch the traders in the city of Britain before too many people had arrived. Not only did her mixed heritage and patchwork colouring attract far too many stares for her liking, but also the trading could become quite fierce as the morning wore on. Of all the things she had been hoping to acquire, she had managed two.
She had been unable to find a rune that would bring them directly to the inn, but she’d been able to find one within a couple of leagues, which was closer than any of her runes. She had also been able to acquire, from the same trader, a rune that would bring them almost directly to the entrance of the dungeon Wrong than she really felt comfortable with. The trader had been an aging prospector, who had been looking to retire to somewhere quiet with the profits gained from the selling of his tools and runes, and found himself considerably closer after Yuki’s patronage.
After an hour or so of seeking out unobtainable items, and resisting the temptation to buy an overpriced copy of ‘Iire I’darnerea Nianai’, she returned home to find the prisoners all ready to depart. She had opened a gate for them, terminating in the vicinity of the moon gate near Trinsic, from which they could travel fairly easily to any of the cities in Ilshenar they chose. She would have liked to have been able offer them some manner of escort, after all, Ilshenar wasn’t the safest land to walk in, but she had too many responsibilities here. Also, she wasn’t at all sure that she wanted to return there any time soon. She was happy to help the elves in another land, but there were a few old wounds that would probably never heal for her this side of the grave. Teanas had said the words “my fellow elves” to her, which had been a little like rubbing sulphurous ash in a wound, reminding her that no matter how she felt, she wasn’t one of them any more. It had more than likely been a slip of the tongue, but it still hurt.
Once she had seen the elves and the Meer off, she had turned her attentions back to the two incapacitated children, and the others who had not returned to Ilshenar. The human Neph had stayed to keep an eye on the elven children, and probably her, as well. Then there were her daughters, one of whom was dead, and one who was probably dying, which wasn’t making this the reunion she had been hoping for. Finally, there was Hikaru, the youngest in the group, who didn’t seem to want to be there at all.
For all those that remained, she had opened a gate to the location marked by the first run she had bought. They had walked the distance at an easy pace, with Xylon tirelessly carrying her sister, and Neph carrying Kysh, with occasional relief from Hikaru. The journey had taken almost two hours, and finally they had arrived, and were able to rest their aching muscles, at least in part. The journey wasn’t over for Hikaru and Yuki.

After a moment’s rest, barely long enough for Yuki to lap up a shallow bowl of milk, especially after having to explain that she couldn’t drink from a glass because of the shape of her mouth, the pair had departed via a gate to the second rune, that had been etched with the single word ‘Wrong’. It hadn’t been until after they’d arrived that Yuki had learned that Hikaru’s friend was a llama; such was the respect the girl had spoken of the animal with.
It had been a relatively short search; Misa had located them a few minutes after they’d arrived, trotting energetically out of the forest in their direction. It was perhaps due to the life her and Hikaru had led that her response to Yuki was less than typical. Usually, animals just avoided her as they might do an ogre, or a dragon, but the llama was far from typical. She had headed straight for Yuki, chest-butting her before moving on to nuzzle Hikaru affectionately. The girl had had been almost as displeased with the misbehaviour as Yuki had been, chastising her mount as Yuki picked herself up from the floor. It didn’t seem, to Yuki at least, that Misa was anything but proud of herself for her attack, and the dressing down was a small price to pay. It hadn’t exactly the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

Xylon stood still enough that she could have been made of wax, watching over her sister with her one remaining eye. Watching the girl’s chest rise and fall beneath the covers of her bed with every shallow breath, the occasional flicker of pain distorting her peaceful face.
Her sister’s eyelids opened slowly after a few moments of twitching, focusing blankly on the ceiling directly above her.
“I am home,” she whispered softly, a look of contentment spreading across her childlike face. “Is everyone alright?” she asked weakly, which surprised Xylon, since she seemed somewhat oblivious to her surroundings.
“As far as I know,” answered Xylon, stepping forward to her sister’s side. “The Elves and the Meer have returned to Ilshenar, save for two of them. The human pup has gone with our mother to recover her mount.
Quiby smiled slightly and looked to her sister, “Lady Hikaru is no more a ‘pup’ than you are a monster,”
“You are old enough to be her mother, and yet you speak of her with such respect. Why is this?” asked the undead girl, genuinely confused by her sister’s manner.
“Why do you watch by my bedside, when my death would benefit you?” countered her sister, looking very weary once again.
“It is not the same,” said Xylon, her brow furrowing,
Quiby had been about to respond when she was interrupted by a small coughing fit. She seemed so small as the feeble coughs made her fail body convulse. She hadn’t eaten properly since before she had been captured, and with all she had been through, she was looking rather frail. There was nothing Xylon could do but let the coughing subside on its own, and she felt rather lost, with her sister suffering within her grasp.
She reached out and placed her finger over her sister’s lips once she had stopped coughing, to deter her from saying any more. “I will fetch you some help,” she said, and walked swiftly out of the door.

Out of Character.
I hope you don’t mind me convolutedly filling in the gaps, but it seemed like a wonderful way of taking my mind off the fact that I’m back home again, and not Michelle’s (I get so mopey^^)

Valg watched Misa and Yuki from the hiding place he had kept while he was resting. He was on his way to the others, or where he hoped they were, when he was attacked by an ettin. It didn't take long to weaken the beast with whatever weapons he might carry under his cloak. Then a quick mental probe shattered it's brain. Leaving the husk of a body with no mind, he took the gold. Even somebody like himself has to use money for odds and ends things.

The attack hadn't left him fully intact though. He was hit once or twice by the club, he couldn't remember. He put an Arcerian hunting sheild around himself and climbed into a tree, intent on sleeping. When he woke next, it was to the sound a llama might make when attacking, or maybe breeding. He pulled himself together, fully aware of Yuki coming out of nowhere with Hikaru.

He hopped out of the tree and strolled over to her with a careless gait. He didn't have any shield up anymore, so he didn't bother to hide himself. She seemed able to detect him anyways.

"The Juka broke camp from the mouth of the dungeon. They moved a few miles away, but scouts still keep watch." He didn't bother to smile, she couldn't see it anyways from beneath the black hood.

Stratics Veteran

OOC- This is disturbing. I try to log on today and nither my current password or any of past ones worked. I hit the forgot my password and I get a can't find Email-address thing. On a whim I go to New User and try to make a new account witht with the exact same name as my normal account and bingo it went through. Notice the "Visitor" title I now sport. 681 post account sent back to 0 posts. Intreasting that even though I just "Created" this account it kept my list of fovorite threads and let's me edit posts made by my old account of the same name.

I'm wondering what would've happened in the off chance someone else tried to create an account today with the same name as mine before I did. *Shudders*

On the bright side I didn't lose my name or power to edit past posts. I'll miss my sage title though.

Edit: Intreasting I have an option to fix my post count in my Control panel. It gave me back 415 of my posts. Better then none I guess. Let's see if I can get the rest back....

Stratics Veteran

Kysh and Jesa were now sitting in the shade of a tree looking into a field near the inn where a group of Human children were playing what appeared to be a strange game involving what looked like a large heavy ball.

"Their names are Quiby and Xylon and both have saved my life before, please use a little more respect when you talk about them."

"Sure ok, as I was saying Xylon is watching over Quiby. Neph went into Yew to get some medical supplies for Quiby. The other Ca-... er... Yuki went with Hi... Hike... Hiku..."

"Hikaru."

"Ya she went with Hikaru to go get her mount. Don't worry I brought your slime back... who are you talking too?"

Jesa had noticed Kysh's eyes suddenly start to grow green, "Hoppy. Hoppy was also left back near the dungeon. There he his. He saw Yuki and Hikaru and his coming back here on his own."

Kysh gave out a little chuckle, "He didn't want to go with Yuki or Hikaru becaues he's uncomfortable around girls."

Jesa looked at Kysh in astonishment, "You can sense individual animals way out there?"

"It's not that hard really, you can contact on animal's mind and if the animal let's you, you can use it's mind to jump to the mind of an animal that is out of your range. That animal in turn can help you find an animal even farther out. You just jump mind to mind further and further away till you find the one your looking for. It's not hard but it can be very draining the farther out you try to sense."

"You have to teach me how to do that. You also have to teach me how to do that thing with the red eyes you did. You know where you change your size. That was so neat."

Kysh was about to answer when a suddenly a voice nearby spoke out, "Excuse me..."

Kysh turned to see one of the boys playing in the field standing nearby. The boy appeared to be about the same age as Kysh but Kysh know that being a being a human the boy was far younger then him, eleven or twelve if he remebered right.

Jesa answered first, "What do you want?"

"I... ah... we're short a player. I was wondering if you wanted to come play with us."

Kysh made a point cut off his sister before she answered, "First, I apologize if my sister sounded rude. I'm finding she doesn't always think before speaking. Second I'm afried I have no idea how to play the game you are playing so I think I'll sit this one out. Besides we're waiting for some people."

"We'll teach you to play while your waiting. Half of us are waiting for our parents to finish up in the Inn and to take us home. And the rules to grabbag ball are easy. My little brother could play."

"I don't know..."

"Come on my team needs all the help we can get."

"Kysh, just go play the game. After the amount of time you just slept you should move around a bit. Stretch out a little. It'll be good for you."

"I still do-... Ouch! Ok ok I'll go play the game on the condition you stop hitting me."

Kysh stood up and left with the young human, not entirely sure how he felt about this sister he never knew he had.

ooc- well I'll miss my sage title but Seasoned Vetran is better then Visitor I guess.

Xylon stood at the top of the stairs down to the taproom, out of sight, listening to the low conversations of the early afternoon customers. She had already listened at the doors of all the rooms along the corridor, hoping to hear the sounds of a familiar person, but instead only heard the snoring of someone who was up far too late, drinking far too much.
Likewise, all the voices from the room below were not those of people who she could trust to render assistance before trying to fell her. Although it wasn’t as if the patrons of the bar could stand against her, but she was here to watch over her sister, as per her wishes, not to fight with anyone deluded enough to think that had a chance against her.
She reached up and touched the bandage around her head, accepting it as a sign that she wasn’t without weaknesses. Yuki had taken the time to cleanse the blood off her undead daughter’s face and body, and apply the bandage that would cover her ruined eye until they had time to deal with it properly. Being undead, she wasn’t at all prone to the infections that would occur in a living victim of the same injury (although a living victim would likely have died from it, making the point moot).
How many of the strangers downstairs realised the dark truth about Quiby’s sister?
It was as obvious as the wings on her back that her sister was popular, and that the regular customers were missing her in her absence. Not just her food, which was by all accounts, excellent, but also her ever-cheerful character, and the delight she took in the work. But would any of that matter if the people who looked so highly on her discovered her relationship with an undead creature that had been responsible for more deaths than she could remember.
Her thoughts continued along those lines for barely a few moments longer, before her attention was brought back to the inn.
“I’ll just go up and get it,” said an unfamiliar man’s voice, followed shortly after by heavy footsteps on the wooden stairs.

Yuki narrowed her eyes at Valg, a cross between suspicion and deep thought. What reason did the stranger have to help them, and on the other side of the coin, why would he lie?
He had somehow escaped from the dungeon, past the Juka, without any apparent trouble. Although he could turn invisible somewhat effectively, she doubted that would be enough to pass the mages who were with the army. Unless he was in league with the Jukans, in which case he wouldn’t have even needed to hide himself. She decided that caution would be well advised.
“We weren’t planning on staying long enough to meet the Juka,” said Yuki flatly. She realise that, short of violent measures against it, the stranger could follow them through any gate they went though, or along any path they walked.
“It seems that once again, I am offering you passage away from this place.” She continued, “or at least, I cannot deny it through reasonable means, so I will not deny it at all. Come with us through the gate, if you will, and know that trouble will find you, should you seek to bring trouble to our destination.”
She glanced at Hikaru, who seemed quite content to follow her lead, if not entirely trusting of the stranger, whom she had not actually met.

Xylon’s heart would have missed a beat, if it had been beating to begin with. In fact, the shock could almost have been enough to start her dormant heart beating.
The instant she had closed the door behind herself, keeping herself hidden from the man as he sought to retrieve whatever it was he had come upstairs for.
To Xylon’s first glimpse, her sister was lying motionless on the bed, her eyes closes as a part of the relaxed mask she seemed to be wearing. It was only after watching her a little that she noticed the slight rising and falling of the girl’s chest as she breathed shallowly enough for her to miss if the first time.
It was strange for her to fear her sister’s death, when she didn’t even fear the day when she’d finally cease to exist, nor did the deaths of others generally bother her. The latter was probably, at least in part, a lie. Since meeting her sister all that time ago, she’d known what it was like to care for another, and to be cared for. Although the concepts were largely alien to her, they did still leave her with something of a conscience.
She stepped over to the bed and looked down to her sister, lying there, wounded, in front of her. There was nothing that she could do to help heal her sister’s wound, and it seemed that no one else was able to help much in that respect, either. If breathing had been a natural process for her, then she might have sighed. But breathing was a conscious effort for her, which allowed her to speak, but offered no other benefits.
Carefully, so as not to disturb her twin’s rest, she reached out to pull the blanket back over her, from where it had been dislodged by her coughing. With as much delicacy as a wild cat carrying it’s young, she replaced the blanket to shield her from the chills of winter that would threaten her more so in her current state. Her skin had seemed almost as pale as her own undead flesh, which made the state of her frailty all that much more apparent.
“Thank you,” whispered Quiby, a faint smile creeping onto her lips
”For what?” asked Xylon, as confused as ever about the ways of the living.
“For coming back,” answered Quiby, continuing before her sister could argue, or ask any more questions. “Please, sit with me.”
Xylon looked around for a chair, or something she could sit on to move over close to the bed, but found nothing. “On the bed,” prompted Quiby, her eyes still closed, but making an educated guess as to the cause of the delay.
More than a little confused, the undead creature lowered herself onto the edge of the bed.

Valg tilted his head slightly to the side and shrugged. "I've told you that I'm around for Kysh's protection because of an old friend's insistance." He moved closer and threw back the hood.

It wasn't the face they may have seen before, but that of Karadur, thought slightly ghost like before. He looked at Yuki, then to Hikaru.
"He looks like this." He smiled, then threw his hood up and went back to his normal looking cloak and hood.

"I will come with you, yet, I implore the same warning to you that you have given me. If you seek trouble, then I will not hesitate to react."

OOC: Sorry it's been a while, but lack of a computer has stopped frequent posting.

“You misjudge me,” said Yuki coldly, her voice carrying a trace of offence. The suggestion that she was anything but a peaceable scholar had struck a nerve. The only reason she had become involved in the strife with the Juka was because her daughters had already become involved, in their own ways.
She turned away and dipped her fingers into a pouch; glad for the moment she had taken to remark the rune so that the gate would terminate within sight of the inn. It would mean that she could be back with her daughters, and away from the stranger sooner.
Without any delay, she removed her conscious thoughts from the world around her, focusing all her attentions on the spell that would open the gate.

“There are children playing outside,” commented Quiby, breaking the silence that was caused largely by her sister’s lack of conversational ability, a slight smile crossing her face. She had lost her childhood to the often-wicked desires of those that saw her as something other than a normal child, and sought to exploit her difference, and innocence. The thoughts usually left her sad, but she had finally met her mother, and her sister was here with her now, and not even the possibility that she was dying could get her down.
“Can you not hear them?” she pressed, noticing the blank look on her sister’s face.
“I can,” answered Xylon in flat tones, “there are eleven of them. Two females, and nine males.”
“How can you tell?” asked Quiby in disbelief, almost sorry to interrupt before her sister could tell her more about the group she hadn’t even seen.
“A lich lord destroyed my eyes with fire and ice when I was still inexperienced in the ways of the undead,” explained Xylon without feeling behiond her words. “He left me without sight as a punishment for refusing to serve him, as was my place as his creation. I presume that he had intended for me to die in the manner of a lumbering, sightless zombie, but I disappointed him with my survival. Perhaps it was he who created this collar, binding me to the will of the one who wields the ring, as punishment for my continued unlife.”
She reached down to the bedside table, where someone had deposited the ring that would control her. She didn’t know who’s idea it had been, since she had been hiding in the shadows of the forest until night fell, and she could enter her sister’s room through the window, without being noticed. She picked it up and admired the likeness of herself, complete with wings.
“I survived because my hearing was better than the lich had imagined, and I continued to survive because I learned to live with only my ears to guide me,” she finished, placing the ring back on the table.
When she looked back to her sister, she noticed that the girl had fallen asleep again. She lifted herself carefully of the edge of the bed, and turned to kneel beside it. Absently, she wondered how much of her little story her sister had hear, but concluded that it didn’t matter, as she watched the girl sleep peacefully.

Stratics Veteran

Kysh smiled at Quiby and answered, "I'm fine, nothing a good multi day nap can't cure. I'm more concerned about you. How are you doing and is there anything I can do for you?"

____________________________________________________________________

"Let me see if I understand you, you wish to unite the powers of the to overthrow the control of the britannian government?" asked the Evil Mage Lord named Xarot.

"Exactly," answered Zeazrom, "Ilshenar was once like this land. Ruled over by a race of elves that sought to enslave and destroy anyone not like themselves. Now those same elves are the one's in hiding becaues the oppresed rose up united and overthrew them. For generations your people have been forced to hide in this dungeon relying on the elementals for protection. Unite with the my army from Wrong and you shall once again be able to dwell in the open sunlight.

"If you and the elementals attacked Skara Brae while my Jukan armies marched on Minoc the Britannian forces would be confused as to where to send aid. If we were to make more allies and attacked even more cities they would fall quickly."

"Intreasting," Xarot mused, "I suppose that after our great victory you would make yourself ruler over this land?"

"No, I wish only to see this oppressive government destroyed. After we win the land could be divided up any way you wish. Myself I would return to my home in Ilshenar."

Xarot thought for a moment then said, "I would have to talk it over with the elementals here but I'm sure if you could get more allies I could pursuade them. Your biggest problem would be getting dungeons that see each other as much as enemies as they do the britannians."

Zeazrom smiled as he responed, "I wouldn't worry about that. Getting certain hostile partys to coopereate has already been taken into consideration."

Quiby looked at Kysh, seeing something in his eyes that told her he really was concerned. Under any other circumstances, she would have tried to reassure him that she would recover, and everything would be fine, but she wasn’t very convinced of that herself. Neither the sword of Compassion, nor her mother’s magic had been able to heal the wound that ailed her. The red-haired lady, Hikaru, had managed to stop the bleeding with what she had described as a field dressing. Making her the most successful healer of all those who had tried.
Her smile dropped, revealing all the anxiety and hurt she was feeling. After a moment, she turned her head away, burying the right side of her face in the softness of the pillow. She didn’t mean any offence by her actions, but she didn’t feel ready to admit how she felt to anyone. Admitting to herself that she was losing hope had been hard enough to do, and above all, she was afraid of how her friends would react. Surely they wouldn’t give up as easily as she had, and they wouldn’t want her to give up so easily, but they didn’t have a cursed wound that felt like it was eating away at her abdomen.
A tear ran from her eye to soak into the pillow. She wanted nothing more than to be alone, but there were few things she wanted less than to push her friends away.

A small hand clasped around her index finger, the tiny digits pressing into the soft, cat-like pad on the tip. Newly opened eyes looking up with wonderment at the first sight of its mother. Feline ears standing erect, twitching towards every alien sound, and away from every contact with the downy mattress. Deep brown velvety fur growing in patches, shining in the torchlight.

Out of Character.
My replies might be a little irregular for a while...
I'm moving house in under a week, my sister's on the verge of making me an aunt five-to-six weeks early, and I have yet to convince the doctor of my mighty need for anti-depressants.

Valg walked in behind Yuki, his face serious now. The smile it normally had was gone, or rather, Karadur had. Taking on the form of Karadur wasn't making it easy to watch and be cautious. He had a form for a while and he couldn't just lose it without causing some others to flee when they saw a shapeshifter in their midst. That would lose Garth customers.

Garth gave a hefty smile and waved to Valg, the Karadur look alike. Giving a quick little wave back and a smile, he moved with Yuki up the steps and spoke quietly to her.

"So do you really believe me to be a threat? I can see it in your eyes that you don't like me. Why is that?"

OoC: Woot! My birthday was on Sunday, so I've been out living it up. Lately, I haven't been home a lot, if at all, so I'm trying to get in a post whenever I can.

Yuki stopped abruptly, her right foot directly in front of her left, only on the step above. Although she had heard Valg walking behind her, the unbidden memory had distracted her enough to have almost completely forgotten his presence. She pushed it aside, grudgingly, and turned to face him.
She was naturally taller than the average person, and her position on the stairs meant that she literally towered over Valg. She turned to face him, lowering herself to a crouch as she did so, so that they were as close to eye-to-eye as they could be, and that her chest wasn’t directly on his eye line.
She had grown accustomed to the stares her appearance attracted, although she was still uncomfortable with the fixation people had with her front after they realised just how feline her anatomy had become. It was almost as detestable an act as pulling her tail.
“You have given me no reason why I should like you,” she said simply, keeping her voice soft. “Even now, you hide your true colours behind a mask of your friend rather than have faith in the goodness of people.”
Her ears flickered to sounds from her daughter’s room before she continued, “and after your little introduction in the dungeon, I do not trust you to be anywhere near that which is closest to my heart.” Her tone had become hard with the last sentence, and her eyes were narrowed.
She remained crouched, part of her wanting to hear the stranger’s response to her candour. From the sound of things, her daughter was awake, and a lot brighter than she had been when she’d left.

Quiby felt the dampness of the tear soak into the pillow, spreading slightly beneath her right temple. Her ears twitched in the direction of a muffled, yet distinctive voice. Her mother had returned safely from her trip to the dungeon.

Hikaru watched as Yuki went into the inn, followed by Valg. It was obvious that Yuki didn’t much like him, and she was almost sorry that she couldn’t be a fly on the wall when he asked her why. It was a question Hikaru didn’t imagine she’d be able to fathom an answer to.
She turned to Misa, who had taken to watching the children playing outside the inn, no doubt planning to extract attention from them. She had always seemed to get on well with children, which was probably why she had become so attached to Hikaru, being that they had started travelling together when she was only a few months past her fifteenth birthday. Hikaru smiled to herself, remember the bright dreams of her young heart, considering how things had changed.
“What now, girl?” she asked rhetorically, not really expecting an answer from her camelidae companion, but finding old habits hard to shake. “It would feel wrong to just leave, what with everything that’s happening, but it just doesn’t feel like I fit in here.” She sighed, “I suppose I’ve just been alone too long, being in the company of others takes a little getting used to.
Misa, for her part, continued looking over at the children. ”Go on, then,” she said, patting the llama’s neck gently. She smiled as her companion trotted over the charm the collected children with her lovely soft wool, in return for more fuss than she could cluck at.
“I guess I’ll wait inside,” decided Hikaru, noticing the chill in the air. She would see what developed, while banishing the cold from her bones with a glass of mulled wine.

Out of Character.
I hope no one minds me making the assumption that its winter. It’s a wonderful season for description, with roaring fires, crisp snow, and the spicy aroma of mulled wine filling the air (I’m in a descriptive mood).

Sitting at an empty table, Tristan takes a drink of the cool water. Wearing his robe to stifle the cool breeze from outside, he is hardly recognizable. Where he has been, what he has been doing... All a tale for another time. Now he needed rest. Since he returned to the Inn, he knew he'd be called upon to adventure again - but after a warm bath and a quiet nap...

OoC:
Hey everyone, just a heads up - I'm still around (had to get my account fixed because it was accidentally purged) and I hope to check in more and more often. I've been reading everything, but haven't really had time to post (I'm actually at work right now) so keep up the good work everyone. Whenever a new story begins I'll be ready to hop in, at least for the beginning.

Stratics Veteran

<font color=blue>Neph was nearing the Inn when someone called to him from behind. He turned to see Teanas walking quickly to catch up to him.

"Teans! Your back. Did you find out anything?"

"I'm afried not, But we do need to talk."</font color=blue>

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<font color=purple>Lemech sat near the stair case that Kysh and his sister had gone up utterly bored. His father was taking forever and it was getting to be too cold outside to really play. He knew his father was a chatterbox and would be a long time yet so Kysh and his sister was his only hope but they hadn't let him go up with them. Some other people had also gone up there including a person who looked alot like the cook who worked at the Inn. Maybe she was the one Kysh had gone up to visit.

What was really bothering Lemech was the fact that in the twelve long years of his life girls had always been nothing more the a annoyence to be avoided or a target to poke fun at, yet for some reason his ind kept going back to Kysh's sister. A friend told him once that elf women cast spell to make human men fall in love with them. If she was trying that then it wouldn't work, no way was he going to fall for anything like that.

Lemech decided he'd best get him mind soemwhere else so he opened his bag to take his small lap harp out. As he took out his harp he noticed two more men... well a man and a elf... enter the Inn both dressed like Kysh. The seemed to be arguing as they headed towards the staircase.

"I don't see why we take them with us, Teanas, I don't like the idea of leaving them alone."

"Ilshenar is too dangeous right now for them, now quiet I think they are just up here."

They both headed up stairs as Lemech started playing a soft melody with his lap harp. Kysh's family and friends seemed to be the first group of people that lemech had met more intreasting then his own.</font color=purple>

Hikaru walked to an empty table near the centre of the taproom, and reluctantly put her glass down. She would have much preferred a seat with her back to the wall, but it seemed that she wasn’t the only one with that preference.
Absently, she wondered how many of those really had reason to cover their backs. Personally, she had lost count of the number of people who had tried taking advantage of her blindside. It frustrated her that people would choose not to face her in an honourable fight; but the truth of the matter was that these people were usually anything but honourable, not to mention poor warriors.
Although people seemed relaxed enough, there was an undercurrent of tension, no doubt from the recent attack. Not only had the inn been almost on the path of the army, but also the absence of Quiby was very much noticeable; she was an innocent casualty of a war that no one wanted.
The door opened, letting in a small rush of cold air, and drawing Hikaru’s attention away from her musings. Neph and Teanas walked in, apparently in the middle of a heated discussion, making their way straight to the stairs.
Yuki rose to her feet as she noticed the pair heading in her direction, although apparently they were too involved with whatever they were talking about to notice her until they’d started up the stairs.
“Lord Teanas, Lord Neph,” she addressed them courteously with a bow. She stepped around Valg and down a few stairs, so that she was not talking over Valg’s head. “I’m no expert, but you don’t look like you’re about to deliver good news.”

“Everything will be fine,” declared Xylon, largely for her sister’s benefit. “Our mother will see to that.”

Out of Character.I'm not going to be around for about a week, or so.
I was supposed to be moving into my new flat tomorrow, but my landlord broke the wall, so I'm going into temporary accomodation for a few days, which means no internet...
I could cry, but Michelle is coming to stay, so I'm quite positive about things, really^^
Be back soon

Stratics Veteran

"Well I don't bring any good news I'm afraid," Teanas responed to Yuki, "Prehaps we should go in and explain. We need to talk with Kysh also."

Kysh hadn't expected Teanas to be back so soon and a broad smile appeared across his face, "Teanas! Your back! Did you learn anythin?..."

"I didn't learn anything new unfortantly. The weapons of anti-virtues seem to be equal in power to the swords of Virtues. Which means there is very powerful magic involved. We haven't found a way to counter it yet."

Teanas noticed a number of dissapointed faces in the room and continued, "I haven't given up yet. We are continueing to research it back at the hidden cities. Which brings me to the next item of buisness. Duty calls both Neph and myself back to Mantis."

"Is something wrong," Kysh asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Some of our sources of information require all of the knights of Virtue. We need you to stay here with your friends while we do some more research. If Zeazrom tries anything you need to be ready to counter it. Now with everyone's permission we need to get going."

Stratics Veteran

OOC- Hope no one minds if I fast forward a couple days again. I'd like to work a bit with what Zeazrom is doing and hopefully get some action going soon and I need some time to pass. Teanas and Neph will be gone for a while and not be particapating in any adventues inthe near future. As always if anyone has an adventure they have been wanting to do by all means go for it. I wouldn't mind some extra time to set the next one up.

Any way for now let's go forward a few days and say those days have been mostly spent caring for Quiby and Recovering from the last adventure. Oh and people may remember Kysh once asking for a Job at the Inn. With Quiby laid up I thought is would make sense for Kysh to try to help the Inn out, the helpful child he is. Well. on with the story.

IC-Well one good thing about Quiby still being bed ridden...She couldn't see the condition of her kitchen. Not that it was overly messy, yet way under the standerd Quiby kept it. Kysh did his best to keep up with everything but was falling behind. Already he was thankful he hadn't offered to try cooking also (the patrons were probably also thankful for that). Jesa had finnally agreed to help out that morning in keeping the kitchen clean. It had however taken taken two hours of what ranged between demanding and pleading for her to help out and even then she hadn't agreed to actully help until after she gave Kysh a couple of bruised ribs for being, " a bossy and impossible brother."

Kysh hated himself for it but sometimes he wondered if he should've left her in the dungeon...

Kysh was refilling some drinks when Lemech walked into the Inn. Lemech had been visiting Kysh and Jesa daily since they met and Kysh and Lemech had become good friends.

"Hi Kysh, where's Jesa?"

"In the kitchen. I finnally talked her into helping out around here."

"Really?" Lemech took a moment to look Kysh up and down, "No blood, no signs of missing limbs, looks like you got off easy with her."

Kysh let out a short laugh, "Well that's not what my ribs are saying. I need to get back to work, need anything?"

"I think I'll just go see if Jesa needs any help cleaning the kitchen."

Lemech walked over to the door to the kitchen, opened, and walked through it, "Hi Jesa can I give you a ha-"

"Go away!"

"Oh wow! Look at this mess! Don't worry with my help you'll be done in no-"

The kitchen door shut closing in Lemech, who apperently hadn't heard Jesa's order, with the young elf girl. Either Lemech was really brave or completly crazy. Either way Kysh hoped he had a platemail set under his clothes. Well back to work.

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Zeazrom sat in front of a terathan matriach in the Terathan Keep while the sound of battle could be heard in the distance.

The matriarch spoke to Zeazrom in it's own own language, "You wish us, human, to unite with your armies to help you destroy your own people, and ask us this even as our own people are here blockaded, and invaded by those snakes, the Ophidians."

"First," Zeazrom answered in the common language, "they are not my people, I serve the Juken people. Second the enemies of our allys are also our enemies. If we lift your blockade and destroy the ophidians ability to threaten you will you help us attack Papua. Papua is weak and will fall easily. Any aid that delucia might send would only arrive in time to be destroyed it's self. With the cities of Britannia falling under attack by my other allies there will be no britannian aid sent to the lost lands. Then it would only be the matter of finishing off Delucia and the lost lands would be all your's while Britannia will be divided among my other allies. What do you say?"

"We shall discuss it amongst ourselves. When we decide we shall either accept you offer or we shall kill you."

Stratics Veteran

Zeazrom rode away from from the Terathan Keep surrounded by his Jukan Guard. They traveled in silance for a while then that silance was broken by a group of Ophidians coming out of hiding from the swamp. An Ophidian Matriarch hissed out an order in her own langauge, and Zeazrom motioned for his guards to stand down.

"The terathans agreed to the plan I presented to them," Zeazrom spoke to the Ophidians, "Keep to our plan and pretend to lose when we come to drive you away. Then while the terathens are dealing with Papua and Dulucia, you will be free to move on their keep. We will let our enemies kill eachother then we will finish off whoever survives. Then the Lost Lands will be yours."

The Ophidian Matriach made a brief reply and turned and left. Zeazrom smiled to himself. So far his plan was going smoothly. The britannians would never be able to stand attacks from so many armies on so many of their cities at the same time. They would either have to separate their forces and try to save all their cities, a useless statagy, or they would concentrate their defenses and sacrifice a few of their cities, which would only prolong their lives by a few weeks. Yes a few more deals and then it would only be a matter of picking the right time to attack.

ooc: Hi, I'm Michelle, Yuki's partner. She's asked me to appologise for her continued quiet, since she is once more in a limbo between homes, and cannot aquire internet access /php-bin/shared/images/icons/frown.gif

Stratics Veteran

I had a feeling that was what happened. Tell Yuki not to worry about it, real life always comes frist. I may write some charecter development posts to keep the thread alive. If 1 or two people decide to join and we do a quest I'll make sure her charecters are taken care of and not forgotten till she comes back. Tell Yuki "hi" for me.

OOC: Greetings. I am new to this forum, and thus you may not know me or my characters. Thus far, I have only one developed here. For a little introduction, please see her introduction thread HERE
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In Character:
Lady Ambrosia rode up to the inn, tired and famished from a long days battle. She still planned on heading home this eve, however she needed a bite to eat. She had already visited the stablemaster and arranged care for her glorious white wyrm, and stashed the majority of her newly aquired wealth in the bank.

She dismounted her jet black steed, and tied him to the hitching post, more as a requirement of law than a necessity. Dakota was well trained, and followed no bodies orders but hers. She stroked her friends long maine, and fed him a piece of raw meat from a recently slain dragon and headed inside.

"Good evening good lady. My name is Kysh. How might I help you this fine evening?"

"Im in need of a bite to eat, and possibly a small sip of ale. It has been quite a long day, and I still have to get home."

"What would you like? My sister is an excellent cook!"

Ambrosia perused the menu, deciding on a suculant leg of lamb and a bowl of stew.

"An excellent choice M'lady! Coming right up." He traveled to the door of the kitchen and opened it up. "Jesa, a bowl of stew and a leg of lamb. And make it quick!" He closed the door just in time to avoid a large pot that Jesa had thrown against the door, making quite a rukus as it hit the floor.

"Busy day?" Ambrosia asked the tavern keeper, more of something to pass the time than actual conversation. Ambrosia's eyelids were heavy already with the events of the day, and she didnt feel like making conversation.

"Long story M'lady. You look exhausted. Would you consider renting a room upstairs and making your journy tommorrow perhaps?"

"I have been across this land and back today. I suppose I could take a break and rest tonight. I would need to take my mare to the stables though."

"You sit and eat" Kysh told her, as he served up her meal. "I'll take care of your fine steed"

Ambrosia looked doubtful. "He doesnt like men very well. I purchased him, half dead, from some jerk of a man." Ambrosia smiled as she remembered the day she purchased Dakota. "I haven't seen that man around since."

"Fear not M'lady. Though I may not be a glorious tamer such as yourself, I am fairly good with animals. Dogs love me!" Kysh through Ambrosia a wink as he walked towards the front of the inn.

About the time Ambrosia finished her meal, a female walked out of the kitchen. Her clothing was covered in grease and food stains, and she looked positively frustrated. Ambrosia assumed that this was the lady the inn keeper had called Jesa. "Excuse me ma'am" Ambrosia began, "The inn keeper had promised me a room before he offered to escort my mare to the stables."

"He offered to take care of your mare!? I appologize, but my brother is an idiot. I only hope he doesnt require much healing, or even a ressurection spell when he gets back!" Jesa was laughing quite hard, barely able to keep her breath. Ambrosia was now worried about her trusty mare, but was curious as to why this young lady would find humor in her brother's bodily injury. Chalk it up to family love. Ambrosia was an only child, she wouldnt know.

"You do have rooms open, dont you?" Ambrosia asked, stiffeling the laughs of Jesa, but not cutting them out completely.

"Yes ma'am." She dug through a drawer in the bar, and produced a pair of keys. "Upstairs, second room to the right."

Ambrosia made her way upstairs and into her bedroom. She got undressed, and bathed the dirt, grime and blood from the morning hunt away, and climbed into bed. She drifted quickly into a deep slumber.

Stratics Veteran

OOC-Well first thing welcome Newman!!! With Yuki stuck between homes I was getting lonely here. We always like having new people here. To be helpful to you and anyone else that is new that might be reading I'll give a brief intro to my charecters. My main one has been Kysh, a young 54 year old elf (by human standerds he would seem to be about 12 years old). Kysh is decended from elves that came from Ilshenar and has some rare elvish abilities that he inherited from his mother, these powers allow him to comunicate directly to animals mind to mind, also he can summon an animal to him if the animal is willing for very short amounts of time, and lastly he temparaily alter the form of his own body and can imitate the forms of cretures and their abilites. These powers however take alot out of him and it is not uncommon for him to pass out in the middle of a intense battle and not wake up for days if forced to use the latter two powers.

His wepeon is small rod with magical powers much like the last of the abilities I listed above. It is a rod that can assume any form it's holder wants and can copy the abilites of any magical wepeon it comes in contact with.

Jesa is Kysh's younger sister that is very new. She was raised in Ilshenar and Kysh only recently learned of her existance. While she has the same rare abilites as Kysh she is opposite from him in everyother way. While Kysh has a very passive personality Jesa has a very aggreisive one and where he is a skilled hand to hand fighter Jesa is a mage that tries too often to cast a spell beyond her current skill.

IC-Kysh loved the stables. Before working at the Inn he had met very few tamers and it amazed him their abilities with their pets. Kysh was born with the ability to speak with the cretures of the forest mind to mind, whereas these tamers had to study and train for years to develop their own special way of connecting with the animals. Kysh had met soem tamers he didn't care for very much. They treated their pets more like slaves then friends.

Kysh was happy to learn from the Lady's steed and later from her White Wyrm how much they both loved her and how well she treated them... as friends. The lady's steed was telling Kysh about how he met his current owner when he realized that one of his own friends had decided it wanted some attention.

"Metal get down," Kysh asked the slime that had wrapped it's self around his leg, "I have to go back to work and the people might be upset if I entered with a slime wrapped around my leg."

The bluegrey slime obediantly oozed itself back onto the ground. Metal had been Kysh's constant companian since the day after Kysh's parents had been murdered, and had saved Kysh's life a number of times, "Well I better get back in and get to work."

Before leaving the the stable Kysh checked the bandanna that he used to hide his elvish ears. While most people who lived in the area knew that he and his sister were elves, Kysh had found that not all travelers were very happy to find a couple of elves working in the Inn. (In fact it was when a man with a very large warhammer started cursing him and all his "nonhuman kindered" upon learning that Kysh was an elf, that Kysh decided that maybe people didn't need to know his race)

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<font color=red>"What's this," Jesa asked Kysh holding up a bow after Garth had finnally told them their work was done for the day and they had retired to their room.

Kysh looked at her and the bow for a moment trying to think of the best way to answer, "It used to be a weapon like mine only more powerful. It was our father's. It was in that form when it was stripped of it's magical powers so that is that is the form it's been in since."

Jesa looked at the bow in her hands, she had learned about her father's weapon, The Rod of Ilshen. It had been made by Ilshen the great warrior that Ilshenar had been named for... and the Grandmother of both Kysh and Jesa incidently. Kysh continued talking, "You should have that. I'm sure father would want you to have it."

Jesa surpressed the urge to hit Kysh, for one she could tell it bothered him when she hit him and second she had to keep reminding herself it was her parents she was mad at not Kysh. After all it was them that abandoned her as a baby in Ilshenar and brought Kysh her to raise him. Kysh, first thing after learning she existed rushed off to rescue her from the juka, which proved that unlike her dear parents he actully cared about her. Jesa was about to tell Kysh what he could do with his offer to give her the remains of the Rod of Ilshen when she felt something strange from the weapon, an energy of some kind. Kysh said that it had been stripped of magic but maybe.....

"Thanks," Jesa responded finnally, "So are you ever going to give a name to your weapon?"

Kysh took a moment to think befor answering, "Well the Rod of Ilshen was named for it's creator so I've been thinking that since mother made this one that I'd call it the Rod of Alexandre after her."

Jesa could tell Kysh was getting in one of his moods for talking about their perfect parents (perfect except that one little mistake of abondoning their infant daughter), and rather then listen to him and then find some excuse for giving him a blackeye she decided it would be best to end the converstion, "Well I have to get up early so I can slave away in this job you tricked me into taking and I also want to check up on Quiby early tomarrow and see how she is doing... so I'm calling it a night."</font color=red>

Even though she had only been asleep for a few hours, Ambrosia awoke, fully rested and ready to go. She dressed and headed down stairs, curious as to weather the Inn made it a habit of serving breakfast. She felt surprisingly energetic today, which surprised her. She figured she would feel sore today after such an intense battle yesterday, but she felt no such thing.

When she hit the bottom of the stairs, she could smell breakfast cooking, and it smelt devine. Surely this was a breakfast fit for a queen! She sat down at the bar, as the place was empty and conversed with the lady named Jesa for a while. She feasted on a plate of eggs, pork loin, and freshly squeezed juice.
"How did your brother fair with Dakota last night?" Ambrosia asked Jesa after she was through with the truely delightful meal.

"Oh, he did just fine. You see, my brother and I have a way with animals that I cant explaint. Its quite strange."

"I appologize" Ambrosia explained, "I cought your name last night from your brother, but we have never been formally introduced. My name is Ambrosia. I am a grandmaster in the arts of animal taming and lore, as well as music and magery. I know your name is Jesa, but I fear I know nothing about you, or your brother for that matter. Please, tell me a bit."

"Yes, my name is Jesa, and my brother is Kysh. He is older than me."

"Ah, very well. Im sorry if these is inappropriate, but your brother and you act nothing alike. You sit and talk to me as if you have known me for years. Last night, I could barely get a word out of him."

"Yes, we were raised quite differently." Not wanting to explain more, Jesa changed the subject rather abruptly. "So how long did it take you to master the ways of magery? I am an aspiring mage myself, however I can never seem to grasp the more difficult spells."

"I picked up magery quite easily. At least I think it was easily, I never actually set out to train it specifically. I let it grow as I went about practicing my taming, and then using my beloved pets in battle. The musicianship I focused on as a side thing because I hated to see my babies hurt in battle."

"Have you ever lost an animal?"

It was not Ambrosia's turn to change the subject. She ordered another cup of coffee, and while Jesa's back was turned, wiped a tear from her eye. Jesa just brought up two subjects that Ambrosia hated most: Loss of her favorite pet, and that of refering to her freinds as "animals". But Jesa had been such a good hostest, she did not want to make an issue of it.

As Ambrosia rose to depart, she picked up her napsack and told Jesa, "I will be venturing out today, but I plan on coming back tonight. This place is marvolous."

Ambrosia made her way to the stables, to fetch her beloved pets. She stopped in town to refill her supply of bandages, and purchased a new lute, as her's was getting old and looked as if it was ready to fall apart. Today would be a good day. She could feel it...

“I come to parley with your dragoon,” stated the girl, striding towards the phalanx of Juka with the same confidence in her stride as in her words.
“He was your dragoon, too, before you betrayed him,” growled one of the warriors, recognising her voice and turning to face her as one with the group. Eight in total, with one lord and two magi in their number.
“Yes, he was,” she agreed evenly. “But like so many before him, he allowed my loyalty to slip from his fingers.”
“Does your friend also come to parley?” interrupted one of the magi, casting her eye to the forest behind the girl.
“That depends on you,” she answered, a little of the surprise at her companion’s [presence being noticed showing on her face, “either way, it’s not her you should be worried about.”
“She smells of magic,” argued the Juka, baring her teeth in an expression of contempt for the non-Jukan magic user. The girl left the question of how the mage could smell anything above the stench of her companions unasked, presuming that it was a reference to the aura of magic that no doubt followed her companion’s every step.
“But she is mortal,” reminded Xylon, extending her wings a little to make her seem more of an immediate threat.
“There will be no parley,” declared the Jukan lord, apparently having grown tired of the exchange between his troops and the child, “Especially not for you, black traitress”
“Do you believe that you could stop me?” challenged the girl, taking a more aggressive stance, all the while wondering if they really could. They were greater in numbers, but she was physically superior to any one of them.
“Do you believe you could get by us?” countered one of the warriors, a grizzled and respected veteran of the ranks.
Without waiting for and answer, the warriors advanced, keeping themselves between her and the mages, the lord taking the lead.
The girl said nothing as she began her own charge.

“And so the Minotaur goes, ‘that’s not my horn’”
Lilka stared blankly into the rapidly congealing bowl of porridge that was masquerading as breakfast, in the mess hall of the Yew guard. Her companion, a fellow guard by the name of William Snellius, watched her patiently; aware that his lengthy joke had fallen on deaf ears.
“No matter how long you stare at that stuff,” he said, after a pause, “it’ll never grow wings.”
“What?” Snapped Lilka, breaking herself from her silent contemplation.
“You didn’t listen to a word I said,” answered her breakfast companion, in good humour.
“We’ve all heard that story a hundred times,” she said wearily.
“And you’ve laughed every time,” he argued.
“Not today,” she snapped, “I don’t want to laugh.”
“Calm down, Ka,” soothed the guard. “No one wants to after all that’s happened, but it’s either that or cry.”
Lilka returned her gaze to the bowl, her eyes following the path of the spoon as she stirred the thickening mixture. “I don’t think I want to do either,” she said quietly.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” observed her companion with concern. “What’s on your mind?”
“If you didn’t like the sound of that, then you really didn’t want to ask me that question,” said Lilka quietly, her attention still firmly fixed on the porridge.

After an eternity of absolute isolation, the unexpected arrival of the orb was far from welcome. The foul shadow it cast spread corruption about the perfect darkness, filling the entity that dwelt within’s awareness with sensations that were sheer chaos to its ordered thoughts.
It had taken an unimaginable length of time for the entity to adapt to the entirely solitary existence it was consigned to, and only an instant for it’s efforts to dissolve into the void that surrounded it.
What are you? Challenged the entity, addressing the steadily glowing orb with its thoughts.

The blood practically boiled in her veins, a mixture of the hatred she felt towards the Juka, and amount of power she had channelled through her body in order to defeat the remaining Juka.
She felt regret for the grasses and undergrowth that had been seared by her fury, as well as for the trees which had been wounded, and would forever bear the scars of her vengeance. But she knew that the forest would heal itself eventually, the pain would ebb, and the devastation would become little more than a footnote in the story of the forest.
She licked her lips with a long tongue, savouring the taste of the Jukan blood before reason overwhelmed the animal instinct within her. Although it would disgust her once her blood had cooled, she felt pride at having dropped the final mage by sinking her teeth into the loathsome creature’s neck. She might not have been good enough to impress the elves, but she found it hard to imagine a pure-feline felling a Jukan mage.
“Come, my daughter,” she said firmly. The Juka had surrounded the child after her initial charge, leaving her practically no chance to fight, nor escape. Which was why Yuki had entered the fray, with the sort of wrath that could only come from a mother defending her child.

Understanding started to dawn on the entity, as it realised that it could ‘see’ the light of the orb, and it was ‘thinking’ about it. Tentatively, it reached out with its awareness, looking for something else that might help make order from the chaos of its situation.
Discovering that it could ‘hear’ something was a little overwhelming for the entity, although after an initial withdrawal, it returned to probe the new sense with renewed energy. For too long it had been stagnating, unaware of the things that lay within its influence. Or at least, unable to be aware.

Hikaru glanced back from the window to Quiby, sleeping soundly thanks to sheer exhaustion, and a generous measure of Papuan Arak. The potent beverage had been distilled from the sap of palms in the northern desert of the Lost Lands, making it a rare, and expensive commodity. It was fortunate that Garth had been keeping half-a-bottle safely beneath the bar, since the drink could put a troll to sleep in sufficient quantity, and Quiby was a lot smaller.
It had been nearly three days since Yuki and Xylon had left to ask the Jukan leader for assistance with Quiby’s wound, leaving Hikaru behind with her “primitive healing techniques” to tend to the injured girl. Since then, they had neither returned nor sent word of their progress. Hikaru was worried that if the girl recovered from the wound, she’d then have to recover from losing her entire family, also.
The girl had mentioned a dream she’d had, during one of her more solvent moments, which had frankly made Hikaru even more worried, for the entire family. She had described seeing her sister sitting in the rafters of a deserted version of this inn, dripping blood from various wounds, stating proudly that she’d “made it”
The dream meant nothing to Hikaru, but even if it didn’t mean anything at all, it did mean that the girl was having nightmares.

Out of Character.
Hello, Newman. Welcome to the inn.
As has been said, I am currently between flats, having been kicked out of one, and my future home still needing to undergo the conversion from shop to flat.
Right now, my computer is set up behind the door of my parents’ bedroom, and I get a couple of hours a night to write, before I have to evacuate to a bed and breakfast for the night. I may not be particularly responsive, but I’m back.

I know this post jumps around a little more than the average Quentin Tarantino movie, but it’s been about two months in the making. I know it might not make a whole lot of sense, but I’m so dosed up on caffeine I barely know what day it is.

Because of the greatly increased risk of my participating again, I should probably follow Kysh’s lead and give a brief summary of my characters; both conceived and inherited.
Yuki is a very old half feline character, her fur is tortoiseshell, and she’s a little crazy (like mauling a Jukan mage didn’t tell you that already).
Quiby is Yuki’s second daughter, and formerly the inn’s chef; although she kind of stabbed herself with a cursed dagger and so she’s laid up in bed, failing to heal.
Xylon is Yuki’s first daughter (they’re twins, but X came out first), she was stillborn and her only taste of life has been as a creature of the undead.
Hikaru is a 20-year-old llama-riding warrior with red hair
Lilka is an archer in the Yew guard, with a very, very nice name.

She is a middle age (40ish) female animal tamer. Her two favorite companions are Dakota her nightmare and Spaz her White Wyrm. She is quite skilled in the ways of animals, music, and magery. Her primarey weakness is her love of her pets. Though they are fully bonded and would never leave her side, she would sacrifice her own life to protect them.
Though she has slain every creature out there, there is one that she is helpless to, and that is another human. Though she has no defence against another human, her pride and her temper wont let her back down.

Her favorite saying is "Some call me a Lady, some do not. What ever thou shalt call me, watch your tounge, or I shall be wearing it on a chain around my neck." This is of course, all talk... a good indication of her pride.

In Character:

From the edge of the forest, Lady Ambrosia watched, both in awe and in horror as she watched the cat lady dismember the final Jukan. She never saw it coming. Ambrosia was drawn by the sounds of battle, and came to the clearing with a view of a very uneven battle. There were around 10, Jukans of all kinds, encircling a body she could not see. She was about to ride up, evening the odds with her musical abilities, when from accross the clearing, came this shriek. The Jukan's never had a chance. When the dust settled and the moaning of the final Jukan finally came to a rest, the cat lady was standing in the middle, blood dripping off of her chin. The person she had protected, was still behind her, still unseen to Ambrosia.

Ambrosia trotted over to them slowly, prepared to either make peice with her instuments, or offer healing or veterinarian services, she wasnt sure which was appropriate. As she approached, mostly unnoticed, she finally saw the figure behind the cat lady. Her face became sad, and slowly she gathered the reagents for the ressurection spell. "An Corp" she said, as she brought her concentration to full focus.

"What do you think you are doing? There is no one in need of ressurection here" said the cat lady.

"But your freind behind you...."

"That is not my freind, that is my daughter. And she is NOT dead... she is UNdead. There IS a difference."

Ambrosia didnt know what to think about this. All of the undead that she had encountered had always been hideous and evil. This one appeared neither of the two. While she did look like an accomplished warrior, she appeared to be on the side of good.

"I appologize, for you must have taken offence at my rudeness. Dear Lord look at your arm!" Attention turned to Yuki's arm, which had a deep gash, and was bleeding quite profusely. "Allow me to aid you with my magical abilities." Ambrosia decided magery was better than attempting to apply bandages and further offend these great warriors. She gathered her reagents, chanted the ever popular "In Vas Mani" and the wound began to close quickly, the bleeding stopping almost immediately.

"Now that that is taken care of, my name is Ambrosia."

"My name is Yuki, and this here, as you know, is my daughter. Her name is Xylon"

Xylon turned to Yuki. "Mother, I dont see why you had to step in. I had the situation under control!"

"You had it under control did you? Thats not what I saw. Those mages would have made quick work of you while you toyed with those warriors. Though you are a glorious fighter my dear, your resistance to fire is not exactly what I would call good."

"No, we were here with a purpose. A purpose in which we apparently failed." Xylon said.

"My other daughter, Xylon's twin sister, is extreamly sick. We were hoping to get some assistance from the Jukan, but they appear to be only interested in fighting. I dont know how we are going to find a way to save her." Yuki's face went from one of rage to one of sadness.

Ambrosia knew what it was like to loose someone close to her. "If there is anything at all I can do to assist in your cause, I am at your service." She shot a glance over to Spaz and Dakota. "Me and my freinds here."

Stratics Veteran

<font color=red>In the lull between breakfest and luch Jesa found some time to go visit Quiby. It was just her luck that Quiby was sleeping. Jesa also noticed the absence of Quiby's mother and Xylon. In fact the only person around was that on lady named Hikaru.

"Good morning Hikaru, where is everyone this morning, and how is Quiby?"</font color=red>

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom looked at the mining town of Minoc in the distance from the top of the mountain that contained the Dungeon Covetus. His Juka army from the Dungeon Wrong at that moment was assembling on the north side of the mountain. They had been traviling in small groups of about 10 warriors so that they would be less likely to be noticed and those that were would be seen as mearly a scouting party. In a matter of minutes they would fall on the nearly defensless town.

Minoc.... a small and weak town. Completly worthless in the grand schem of things. Yet as soon as the attack happens the eyes of all britannia would fall on it and warriors from all over will come to help the small town. Then the real war would start. Most of his army would retreat and join an undead army from Covetus to destroy Vesper. At the same time while the defenders of britannia still think that Minoc is the target, Yew will be attacked by an army of Orc and an army from the dungeon dispise led by the ogre lords. Skara Brae will fall to an army of elementals and evil mages from Shame. The men of Papua and Delucia will face the army of the terathens and while they kill each other the ophidians will be prepared to finish which ever army wins there. With all the warriors defending Minoc the other cities will fall quickly.

Yes the next few days will be great days. The cities of britannia will burn and this world will become a world just like Ilshenar.... and Zeazrom will be known as the greatest of all Chaos Dragoon Elites.

____________________________________________________________________

"We're under attack!"

The alarm was sounded throughout the town of Minoc. The Juka army was sighted marching towards the city from the west. They were only minutes away. All non-fighters were quickly ordered to flee into the mountains and forest east of the city. Riders were also sent to the moongate to send for aid from the other cities. No sooner did the riders make it through the moongate then the Juka army reached the southwest part of the town. Now it was a question on weather the guards could hold until help could arrive.

The orb expanded swiftly, and without warning, filling the part of the entity’s perception that it understood to be what it could see, with a curtain of blood red. Another part, which the entity had recently discovered, was filled with rhythmic concussions that sparked an eternally distant memory of war drums.
The entity responded with something close to excitement, when a distant memory alluded to a method by which it could ‘see’ more.
In that instant, the entity learned something completely unexpected.
It could scream.

Lilka pulled the arrow forcefully from the bogling’s head, wondering for a moment if it could really be called a head. Although the creature looked human-shaped enough on the outside, but who knew what it was like beneath moss and other assorted swamp-life that clung to the creature.
Not that it mattered, but it was a relief to think of something other than how frustrating these random attacks were. It was as if all the monsters in the area had conspired to waste her time, especially now that she had her eyes on a far bigger target.
She wore none of the trappings of the Yew guard, and indeed she no longer held any rank in it. Her superiors had been less enamoured by her plans for the recent future than she had hoped. In fact, even her breakfast companion had been quite opposed to the idea. Although, he ultimately conceded that it was her decision in the end, which wasn’t exactly an endorsement, but it was the best she could have hoped for under the circumstances. Besides, he’d been more concerned about her than anything else, while everyone else argued for the good of Yew.
“We should have lost,” she muttered to herself. Unlike her comrades, who were content just to celebrate a victory, Lilka found it hard to allay her suspicions. Surely the Juka could have overwhelmed the town with ease, even with the timely warning. She had heard the rumours about the messenger who warned of the impending invasion, although she never got a chance to meet the girl with blood-red hair. Although she’d apparently fought on the side of Yew, she had disappeared soon after, leaving the question of how she’d found out about the invasion.
No matter, she resolved, she’d get at least a few of the answers she was looking for when she reached the White Stag.

Hikaru had been sitting on the floor in the corner of Quiby’s room, at the foot of the bed, when Jesa entered. She looked up from the small book she’d been writing in, to be sure that whoever was coming in meant no harm to the girl under her care. Upon recognising Jesa, she returned her attention to the book for a moment, so she could finish the sentence she was writing.
Once she had finished, she closed the book and put it on the floor beside her, taking care to replace the lid on the inkwell before lifting herself to her feet. The book, quill and inkwell had been gifts from Yuki, or as Hikaru affectionately called her, the patchwork cat. Although Hikaru had protested initially that she wasn’t a writer, she had later come to appreciate the gifts. After all, there wasn’t much else she could do while the child was sleeping, which she did for most of the day, and night.
A smile crept across her lips as she lifted herself from the floor, her muscles protesting that she’d been in that position since long before the sun had risen. Although the smile had a fair bit to do with the elven girl’s interruption being a welcome one, it also contained a fair amount of understanding. Before she’d left, when she’d asked Hikaru to take care of Quiby in her absence, she’d cryptically added that “she needs you, and I think you need her.” Now Hikaru understood what she meant.
Hikaru glanced over at Quiby, to be sure that she was sleeping before she answered, so as not to upset her as much as the old elf had before he’d left. It was fortunate that she did, since a pair of yellow eyes were watching her, obviously she’d been sleeping lightly.
“Yuki and Xylon are still looking for a way to break whatever curse is on the wound,” she said, lying easily. The truth was that the mother and daughter had neither returned, nor sent word of their progress, which, Hikaru would have wagered, was a bad sign.
“As for Quiby, well, I wouldn’t get too settled in that kitchen of hers,” she continued with a smile. Although she wasn’t prone to optimism, Hikaru found it hard to believe that the girl was going to die from the wound, cursed or not. There was too much of a passion for life reflected in her eyes to be snuffed out so easily.
Hikaru stepped in front of the mirror on the girl’s wardrobe door, keeping distant enough that she could see all of her reflection in the Quiby-sized full-length mirror.
“Could you keep her company for a little while?” she asked as she straightened her clothes.
Because, for the first time in her life, she wasn’t likely to need the protection of her leather armour, it seemed pointless to wear it. Indeed, it was more than pointless, it was highly impractical, not to mention uncomfortable in retrospect.
Despite the best efforts of the tailor in the local township, Hikaru had blindly refused to even consider wearing a dress. Eventually, conceding defeat on that matter, despite offering a substantial discount, the tailor had managed to sell some fine silk garments, that went a fair way towards making her look almost ladylike. Loose and flowing trousers in midnight blue, gathered at the ankle, and a matching blouse.
“Misa could use a little exercise, and I have a couple of things to pick up in town,” she explained.

Out of Character.
Sorry for the delay in my post. When I say it’s been a bad week, I don’t exaggerate, unfortunately. I’ve had 14 teeth removed, so I’m sure you can all imagine how fragile I am right now.

Lemech felt his cheeks burn a little. It was clear that Kysh had noticed his intreast is Kysh's sister. Obviously he hadn't done a very good job of hiding it. He wondered if any one else had noticed. Lemech decided he'd better be more careful. If his ounger brother or sister... or worse yet his father.. found out about his little crush he would never hear the end of it.

"Well you know Kysh. If you would hold still long enough we could talk too."

"Um... moving around is kinda part of my job."

"Ya.. well..."

A disturbence out side interupted the soemwhat awkward conversation, much to Lemechs relief. A warrior that had left the Inn a few moments earlier came back in and shouted to the few that remained in the Inn, "A rider has reported that the Juka are attacking Minoc! The city calls for aid!"

Most of the remaining warriors in the Inn quickly got up and left. Lemech was instantly relieved that it wasn't Yew again, those Juka were getting to be about as annoying as his little brother.

"Lemech, is your father around?"

"Hmmm? My father?" Lemech thoughts were broken by Kysh's question, "My dad is in the forest north of Skara Brae. There were some wierd reports coming from there and he went to check it out."

"Ok," Kysh responded, "I don't think there is going to be much buisness here for lunch. I'm going to Minoc to help out there. I have a feeling Zeazrom is involved in this."

"The lunatic that you said put Jesa in a dungeon? In that case I'll go with you and help."

"Sorry Lemech... it's to dangerous this is a juka army we're talking about."

"Come on Kysh I'm a whole head bigger then you. If your going then I'm going."

Kysh just shook his head again, "You maybe bigger then me but I started training to fight when your dad was still in diapers, you are only twelve, that's like a baby compared to me."

"That's becaues you were a baby in diapers when you were twelve, we humans develop alot faster you know."

"I think we should finish the conversation later... maybe in a hundred years or so, but for now you need to stay here and tell Jesa where I've gone and tell her I'll be back later."

"Jeez, giving Jesa news like that is more dangerous then the Juka-"

"Your not going, that's it, good by," Kysh finished and walked out the door.

Lemech watched Kysh leave and after a couple minutes walked over to the door of the Inn. Who was Kysh to tell him what to do, he knew he could help Kysh out aganst the Juka. If this attack on Minoc was anything like their attack on Yew then the juka would probably be running in terror before Kysh even got there. Kysh was right in that someone need to be at the Inn to make sure Jesa, and any other warriors for that matter, knew what was going on.

Just as these thoughts were running around Lemech's head he heard a familer voice singing. Looking towards the voice Lemech noticed his own little sister approching. A though suddenly hit Lemech, "Hey Cady.... want to earn 5gp."

Lemech's sister eyed him supiciously, "What would I have to do?"

"Just stay here and give a message to Jesa when she comes down stairs and to any warriors that may come to the Inn."</font color=purple>

Hikaru could feel the tension in the air as she walked down the stairs, apparently something had happened while she was talking to the elven girl. As she came into the taproom, it was clear that there were fewer heads than usual, more importantly; those heads that remained weren’t those of warriors.
“What’s happening?” she demanded of anyone who would answer.
“The Juka,” said the girl who had been standing by the stairs, “they are attacking Minoc.”
Hikaru cursed sharply, causing the child to step back in alarm.
“What are you doing here?” asked Hikaru, noting that no one seemed to be with the child.
“My brother wanted me to give a message to Jesa, and to tell any warriors who came in,” explained the child.
“Where is your brother,” she demanded, a little too harshly. The prospect of battle caused Hikaru to shed the friendly demeanour she’d been developing during the last few days of peace, becoming a young warrior again.
“He went after Kysh,” answered the girl swiftly.
For the briefest of instants, Hikaru looked as if she were about to cry out in despair. Although she quickly pulled herself together and started up the stairs.
“Come with me,” she ordered the child, “you can give Jesa your message, and stay with her until I find your brother.”

Lilka started at the news, “Minoc?”
The tradesman nodded grimly, although there was a hint of relief in his eyes that the Juka weren’t attacking Yew again
“I suppose they value metal more than they do wood,” she said thoughtfully.
“You can’t armour troops with wood,” agreed the tradesman, “and there’s trees enough to the south”
“You can’t even begin to compare those saplings to a Yew tree,” argued Lilka, quoting the argument directly from her father and tapping the bow she had slung across her shoulder. “So, what price?”
“Twelve gold,” offered the tradesman.
Lilka reached down to pick up the crossbow bolts again when the merchant interrupted.
“No one’s buying silver these days,” he explained, “war’s brewing, and it’s not against the undead, for a change.”
“Fine,” resigned the ex-guard, she couldn’t fire the bolts anyway. The Yew Guard had supplied her crossbow; and taking it would have been nothing short of theft.
She held out her hand and accepted the coins, stuffing them into a coin purse before walking off. At least she’d be able to afford food when she reached the inn, which wouldn’t be long now.

“Lemech!” called Hikaru at the top of her voice, so loud that Misa tossed her head in protest.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” muttered Hikaru, “the Juka, or the impetuous kids.”
She understood that, to some, she would have been included in the latter group, since she’d been swinging a blade at her enemies since she was 15. But she was 20 now, an adult, and quite capable of taking care of herself.
“Kysh!”
She caught a hint of movement in the forest to her right, as the placement of the trees allowed her a brief glimpse deep into the forest.
“Misa,” she said softly to get the attention of her companion. The llama seemed to understand, and lessened her pace, allowing Hikaru to alter their heading with ease, and cutting down the amount of noise they were making.
Hikaru reached to the dagger she’d stashed in the belt of her trousers, taking care not to cut herself in the process. She’d picked up the anti-virtue dagger from Quiby’s nightstand, and had no intention of inflicting a permanent wound upon anyone but an enemy.

Quiby looked over to Jesa, tears flowing from her eyes. She reached out an unsteady hand to the elven girl, hoping for a little comfort.
“Why does there have to be a war?” she asked tearfully.

What was left of the Yew tree stood in a small clearing of its own, as if the other trees of the forest had known of its fate, and kept themselves safely distant. The tree had been struck by lightning many years back, ending the tree’s life in a blaze that had, thankfully, not spread.
Hikaru slid from Misa’s back, landing softly in the slowly decaying mulch of the forest floor. She had glimpsed movement a few times while circling around cautiously, in case she’d spotted a scouting party for another army, or something unfortuitous like that. And all the signs had lead to this tree.
She crept forward, holding the dagger ready, feeling distinctly under-equipped for doing what she was doing.
Despite all her mental preparation, she was far from prepared for the sight that awaited her on the far side of the blasted tree.
The child shrunk further back into a recess in what was left of the mighty trunk at the sight of Hikaru, her eyes wide with fear, her body visibly shaking, and Hikaru had her doubts it was due to the cold.
“It’s okay,” cooed Hikaru, realising a moment later that the girl’s eyes were fixed on the dagger.
Reluctantly, she returned the dagger to her belt, and repeated her soothing words.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she continued, approaching slowly, “there’s nothing to be afraid of”
The girl didn’t look very convinced, although her rapid breathing did seem to slow a little, and she stopped shrinking away, although she could well have run out of room in her niche.
“You’re safe now,” she lied, as she reached out to touch the girl’s shoulder.
The child flinched at the contact, but didn’t pull away, allowing Hikaru to cup her shoulder.
“Where’s your mother?” she asked softly, crouching down next to her.
The child pointed to something Hikaru had assumed was a fallen log. Upon looking closer, however, she could see telltale patches of ginger and white that identified the “log” as Yuki, the girl’s half-feline mother.

Out of character.
That was a little of an exaggeration, I had one out a little over a week before the others, although that was scheduled to come out anyway. Abscesses are horrible, horrible things.
Anyway, I’m afraid that the meeting between Ambrosia and the moggies couldn’t have happened, due to my funky retrospective post. My fault, I know, and I apologise.

Warriors from all over begain to assemble in Minoc. One, a paladin, could not stand by as innocent people suffered. Entering the battle field, Delita scanned the battle. The greatest threat came from the Juka Lords, for they had many of the warriors and guards pinned downed with their archery. Pulling his Broadsword and Valorite Kite Shield into place he turned his horse towards the line of Juka Lords and charged.

The juka seeing Delita charging unleshed a volley of arrows at him. The first 4 arrows he blocked with his Shield, the remaining two he repelled with his sword. Before the Juka Lords could load anymore arrows into their bows Delita was upon them. Chanting the sacred words to his paladin spells he began cutting down the Juka al the while perrying all arrows and blows that came is way. Calling out to the other defenders of Minoc he called, "Attack now. For your families, homes, and freedom, attack now!"

Stratics Veteran

Lemech's sister had just finished explaining where Kysh had gone and Jesa didn't want to do what she was about to do in frount of Quiby. As soon as Jesa was in the hall and the door was closed her voice could be heard throughout the Inn, "OF ALL THE STUPID, IGNORENT BROTHERS!!!! I'LL KILL HIM! HOW DARE HE LEAVE AND NOT TAKE ME."

After a few moments of cursing her brother in every language she knew, she calmed herself down and went back into Quiby's room, "Well I guess there is nothing to do now but wait for those bone heads to get back."</font color=red>

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From his vantage on the mountain Zeazrom could see the battle growing. Warriors from all over Britannia were coming to Minoc. Every moment the forces defending the small city were growing.... and the defences of all the other cities were shrinking. It looked like it was just about time to start the second phase of his plan. Zeazrom sent his messengers to signal the army from Despise to attack Yew and for the army from Shame to attack Skara Brae. He also sent one to let the Terathens know the time had come to attack Papua.

Turning to one of the Juka Lords near him Zeazrom ordered, "Order the main part of the to circle around to the south and join up with the undead army and destroy Vesper. Have the remaining Juka warriors slowly retreat west, away from Vesper and try to lure as amany of Britannia's forces away from all the citys and the moongates."

Then motioning to a Lich Lord next to him Zeazrom continued, "My friend Talneh here will come with me and with some help from some other undead friends from the Yew Crypts, we will visit the home of some of my enemies and burn it to the ground.

____________________________________________________________________

Kysh exited the Minoc moongate riding upon Hoppy, but as soon as they exited they found the area around the moongate had turned into a Melee. The juka had obviously camped the moongate in order to to keep reinforcments from reaching Minoc.

Dismounting his Ki-rin Kysh gave Hoppy a quick mental order to protect the Moongate and make sure the juka didn't suprise any one else arriving. Taking out the Rod of Alexandre, which Kysh had named in honor of his mother, the rod changed into a double bladed staff and with his eyes glowing green pleading for help from the animals of the forest, Kysh joined the battle.

They made slow progress on their way back to the inn.
Although Misa seemed to have taken a liking to the previously undead girl, the girl herself wasn’t convinced of the harmlessness of the creature that stood almost two feet taller than she did. And so, Misa contributed nothing to the endeavour, except to give Xylon a reason not to fall behind.
It fell to Hikaru to carry the unconscious Yuki, since Xylon scarcely had the energy to walk by herself, let alone carry 6 foot of dead weight. The job was made more difficult by a fresh wound in her right hand, caused while Checking Yuki’s pulse again before moving her.
She remembered a warning from her father in her youth about the instincts of sleeping cats, and how even touching a sleeping cat, unless it was well and truly housebroken, wasn’t advised. Ignoring these past warnings, Hikaru had felt for a pulse in Yuki’s neck again.
Absently, Hikaru wondered whether Yuki realised that she’d, quite literally, bitten the hand that was rescuing her.
Xylon followed closely behind Hikaru, her hand holding tightly to the sword belt around the warrior’s waist. Presumably, Yuki had shown the foresight to recover the weapon that had dealt a killing blow to her seemingly immortal daughter. Hikaru guessed that it was another anti-virtue weapon, but hadn’t investigated further for lack of time. War was brewing, and she had a family to reunite.

Quiby closed her eyes slowly. The elven girl wasn’t going to offer her any comfort, so she decided that she’d pretend to sleep, and hope that maybe the real thing would settle over her eventually.
She’d thought that, perhaps, the elven girl would have been like a kindred spirit to her. After all, from what she could gather, people who weren’t their parents had raised them both, and they’d both recently found family. But it seemed like they couldn’t have been any more different if they’d tried, and right now, Quiby needed someone caring, like herself.
A tear slipped from beneath a closed eyelid; she missed her mother, and her sister.

Far from the image of perfection Yuki had represented walking into the dungeon a few days back, the aging part feline looked like she’s been to the abyss and back. Her formerly immaculate tortoiseshell fur was now matted with what was more than likely her own sweat, and various patches of blood stood out starkly against the ginger and white patches. She’d also, apparently, taken a blade to her hair. Leaving the ends falling about her shoulders, as opposed to her ankles.
A few people stood in fear as Hikaru opened the door with the sole of her boot and walked in. They must have thought that the fighting had reached the inn somehow, and Yuki’s appearance didn’t do anything to convince them otherwise.
“Make room by the fire,” she commanded, “she has travelled from the west, and may bring news.” That much was true, although Hikaru doubted it, any news she carried would be at least two days old by the time she’d recovered enough to deliver it.
“Who’s that girl?” demanded one of the customers, a fairly noble traveller by the look of him, gesturing towards the child, who literally hid behind her.
Hikaru glanced over at Garth, who was coming over to render any assistance he could, and prayed to a god she didn’t believe in.
“This is Ai,” she answered glibly, picking the first name that came into her head. “She’s Quiby’s sister, and this,” she gestured towards the comatose creature behind her, “is her mother”
Garth gave her an odd look, but said nothing, although she knew it was only a matter of time before he demanded an explanation out of her. “Make room, make room,” he muttered as he set about clearing more room around Yuki, moving tables and chairs, and generally making himself busy.

Ina stood on a small rock, some distance away from the dragoon, listening to his every word. Despite the amusement she found in mimicking his every movement with dramatic flourish, she didn’t smile, instead trying to form an imposing expression, such as she imagined the dragoon possessed.
She wore a mockery of the leather armour worn by female warriors, only formed from leaves. Admittedly it wouldn’t even protect her from an irate bluebottle, but she liked it, and that was all she really cared about.
At roughly nine inches tall, she was short for a pixie, and none of her kin back in Ilshenar would take her seriously. Especially not after supposedly proving that unicorns didn’t possess a sense of humour, and barely escaping with her wings intact. She thought it unfortunate, because the creature looked so pretty with all the flowers braided into its mane and tail.
That was why she’d left her motherland, because more interesting things happened in Sosaria, and her reputation wasn’t likely to precede her in a land where no one knew her.
Lost in thought for a moment, she forgot that she was eavesdropping, and by the time she’d remembered, he was almost finished.
“We will visit the home of some of my enemies and burn it to the ground,” said the dragoon.
Ina suppressed a giggle, thinking that, what with the invasion and all, he had a lot of enemies to choose from.
A thought occurred to her, although she quickly dismissed it. Killing the leader of all the armies was a big thing, and she knew that big things were best left to big people.
Sighing inaudibly, she hooked her tiny bow over her shoulder and dropped the small twig she’d been using for a sword. Without a sound, she fluttered away on her beautiful gossamer wings.

Xylon looked fearfully at the people in the inn, past Hikaru’s left arm. The red-haired girl had been so kind to her, despite the fact that they had been mortal enemies a few days prior, in a manner of speaking.
She had done nothing to the people of the inn, and yet they stared at her as if she were still an enemy. Perhaps they knew differently than the lie Hikaru had given them, and they knew how many deaths she was responsible for. She looked about to flee when Garth stepped over and whispered softly to her, “she’s in the first room on the left.”
She realised that he was talking about her sister. She’d only ever entered the inn through the window before now, to avoid drawing attention with her great wings and undead aura. But both were gone now, and it was true that she didn’t know how to reach her sister’s room from the inside, but she wanted someone to go with her.
“Lead the way,” said Hikaru softly, responding to the tug on her sword belt.
With a final fearful glance at the inn’s patrons, Xylon set off up the stairs, followed by Hikaru.

Stratics Veteran

Kysh jumped to is left just dodging the spear from the juka warrior. Kysh spun around behind the warrior making a large gash through the muscles on the back of the Juka's legs taking away the Juka's ability to walk. His rod turned into a bow as Kysh grabbed an arrow out the the air as it flew by him. With on fluid motion the arrow was placed into his bow and as he released it turned into a bolt of energy burning a hole thought the throat of the Juka that had origianally fired it.

As soon as he had fired the arrow though Kysh had relized he had made a mistake. The Juka warrior that had been charging at him was moving faster then he thought. He was going to get hit so Kysh did the only thing he could, he changed the Rod of Ilshen into a shield and blocked. The blow sent Kysh's small form flying through the air. He landed hard on his back slightly dazed. The Juka wasn't wasting time and was rushing in for the killing blow. Kysh started to roll out of the way but he knew it wouldn't be fast enough, but..... then a rock hit the juka square on the head.

"Hey ugly over here!"

Kysh looked over and saw Lemech standing there throwing another rock at the Juka. The juka warrior upset at having a child disrupt his killing blow stood up to his full size roared and began charging right at Lemech.

Kysh saw Lemech's expression change as he took in the full size of both the Juka warrior and the size of his spear. Great, Kysh thought, now he realizes how stupid what he just did was, "Lemech!! Run back to the moongate and get out of here!"

Lemech didn't run, instead he took a step back, tripped and fell to a sitting position without ever taking his terrified eyes off the charging Juka.

Kysh reached into his pouch and took out a small stone with a indentation in it. He used the stones to fire magic arrows from his bow becaues they were easier to carry then real arrows and since it turned into a magic arrow anyways it didn't matter what he put on the bow string to shoot with. Kysh realesed the stone and turning into energy it bruned once again through the throat of a juka.

Kysh ran over to Lemach. The young human was still sitting on the ground staring that the Juka whose head had landed only inches from his feet. The huge spear had fallen right next to Lemach.

"Lemach I told you this place was too dangrous," Lemach didn't make any move he only continued to stare at the Juka with a shocked look on his face.

"Lemach snap out of it you have to get out of here now," Kysh shot a couple more Juka that were making their way towards the two boys, "Now get up, you saved my life , thank you, now it is time for you to go."

Lemach stood up with Kysh's help and muttered, "I think maybe your right, I'll wait for you back at the Inn."

"Good idea. Wait for me at the Inn.....oh and Lemach?"

"Huh... what?"

"You might want to change clothes."

Lemech looked at his wet and stained pants and the small patch of wet ground where he had been sitting. He then looked at Kysh and with a menacing look ordered, "Not a word of this to any one....ever."

____________________________________________________________________

<font color=red>"Hikaru who are....? How.....? What is going on?"

Jesa was completly confused. Hikaru was coming in with a injured Yuki and a.... a living Xylon? Ok this was getting just plain weird.

Xylon hesitated in the doorway; she could smell her sister’s blood, evoking memories of when she had first smelled it at their mother’s home.
“It’s my fault,” she whispered, and turned back with tears forming in her eyes.
Hikaru, who was carrying Yuki, blocked her exit. “It was the dragoon who controlled your actions, not the other way around,” she said in a soothing, yet firm voice.
Xylon didn’t want to believe that, but she was forced to acknowledge it, even though it meant admitting that despite her power, she had been little more than a puppet.
“Sister?” came a voice from behind the door, interrupting Xylon from her dark thoughts, causing her heart to quicken. It made no sense to her that she should be so nervous, since the girl on the other side of the door had found it within herself to love her sister even when she was undead, so surely she would be able to love her sister whatever the circumstances.
She steeled herself, blocking out the nagging voice at the back of her head that had begun listing reasons why her sister should hate her, and stepped from behind the door.

Ina stood on one of the eight rocks that stood around the moongate in Yew, staring out into the forest, holding her hand above her eyes as if to block out the sun, even though it wasn’t shining in her eyes. A thoughtful frown marred her ageless face as she pondered the latest conundrum to befall her.
She knew that she was in the Yew forest, somewhere, but she also knew that the forest covered about a quarter of the land. She’d learned this from a map she’d taken from a traveller’s map case while he was sleeping, replacing it with a child’s picture of an orc. It was quite a good picture, really, although she preferred the funny dragons drawn in the seas of the map. She remembered the dragons, although she couldn’t remember where the crypts were supposed to be, let alone where she was now.

Quiby smiled at the sight of her sister, noticing something different about her sister, but unable to see far beyond the cloud of alcohol that dulled her senses and allowed her to sleep. Xylon didn’t smile back, which didn’t come as a surprise to Quiby, since her sister was undead, and the undead weren’t generally a happy bunch.
Xylon took a hesitant step towards her sister, opening her mouth to say something, but words failed her, and she closed it again. Strange for the girl who had never had trouble expressing herself, if she felt the need, but Quiby didn’t notice. She let out a deep breath, which was equally strange for a girl that didn’t have to breath, but the love in Quiby’s heart added to the numbing effects of the alcohol. The black-furred girl knelt beside the bed and took her sister’s hand, in hands that were no longer the temperature of the grave, and pressed it against her chest.
Quiby sobered in an instant when she realised what she was feeling. The rhythmic beating of her sister’s heart, the softness and warmth of living flesh, and the steady motion of her breathing.
“You have made it,” she said softly, looking at her sister through eyes misty with tears, remembering the dream.
Xylon looked into her sister’s eyes, joining her in the tears.

Ina was still standing there, no closer to figuring out where she was going, when someone passed through the gate behind her.
With a squeak of surprise, she spun to face the gate. The idea of rendering herself invisible, as was her natural defense against danger, didn’t occur to her. Not even in retrospect, after she’d fallen over her own feet and subsequently off the rock.
“Ouch…” she moaned, as she picked herself up, brushing the dust off her leaf armour.
She cast a scathing glance at the moongate, for making her jump, before remembering that it was someone coming through the gate that had made her jump. Standing over her was a human boy, looking rather shaken. Another glance at the moongate revealed that it wasn’t the free-falling pixie that had shaken him so, but the origin of the gate he had come through, Minoc.
“Excuse me,” she said politely, raising her voice so the boy would be better able to hear her. People often forgot that little people had little voices, and didn’t listen as carefully as they should. “Could you please tell me how I could get to the Yew Crypts?” she asked, hiding her nervousness behind good manners. She knew that some children, and adults, believed that if they caught a pixie, they’d be granted a wish. Although, unless she was in a generous mood, all they’d get is a demonstration of a blink spell, and a glimpse of her making good her escape.
Right now, she was feeling a little disheartened. Being lost wasn’t fun.

Hikaru’s mouth literally hung open. She’d never imagined that the reunion would go this way, since they had only seen each other three days ago, but it seemed that she was mistaken. It felt wrong to be intruding on such a heartfelt moment, so she caught Jesa’s eye and motioned for her to follow her into the corridor outside, as she backed out herself.

Out of character.
By the way, the boy at the moongate is supposed to be Lemech^^

Stratics Veteran

<font color=purple>Lemech turned away as soon as he realized what was talking to him. The last thinghe wanted was for anyone to see the stain on his pants and start calling him a baby.

"One moment," Lemech replied quicklyas he walked quickly to a house near the moongate makeing sure the pixie couldnt get a view of the front of him. Walking over to a full water barrel and jumped inside.

"Hey, boy what are you doing over there?"

Lemech answered the vendor as he climbed out of the barrel, "Learning how it is to be a poler bear."

Well being dripping wet in the winter cold wasn't fun but at least his clothes all matched each other now. As far as that pixie what was that question again... oh yeah, "Yew crypts are directly east from here but why would a pi-.... um.... why would you want to go there?"</font color=purple>

____________________________________________________________________

<font color=red>Jesa sat in a chair in Quiby's room holding the bow that had once been the rod of Ilshen. Her eyes were glowing a faint green as she practiced what Kysh had taught her about speaking with animals mind to mind. Kysh always seems to be talking with animals but Jesa couldn't find any animals that was willing to let her into their minds. How did Kysh do it? Every animal in Yew forest seemed to know Kysh and do anything he asked, while they just ignored her. Jesa could sense that an unusual number of animals were nervouse and sceard but they refused to tell her why. Were was Kysh when she needed him.

Then an idea struck her. The animals were willing to do anything Kysh asked them becaues Kysh had grown up in Yew Forest in hiding. Most of these animals had grown up with Kysh speaking them. They were familer with him. She decided to try something. Finding some of the frightened animals in the forest she again asked them what was wrong, but this time she sent a mental image of her borther... and this time the cretures relaxed a little and let them into their minds.

The animals showed her what was wrong. Undead cretures from some nearby crypts were on the move. and they were heading towards the Inn.

"Umm, Hikaru?" Jesa whispered over to the young warrior so as to not disturp Quiby and Xylon, "I think we may have some trouble coming this way."</font color=red>

“I want to learn how it is to be a zombie,” answered Ina, barely suppressing a giggle.
She lolled her head to one side and slouched exaggeratedly, shuffling forward a few steps while dragging a leaf-booted foot behind her. She thought it was quite a good performance, especially since she’d never actually seen a Zombie before. The nearest thing she’d experienced was a mummy, and they could be quite agile, especially when provoked.
With a flutter of her wings, she ended her little imitation and landed back on top of the rock she’d previously fallen from, casting a warning glance at the moongate, in case it felt like making her jump again. She could still see the forest near Minoc through the gate, and smoke rising from the direction of the mining town.
“I don’t want to go there any more,” she said finally, looking back up to the boy who was watching her curiously. The seeds of war were beginning to sprout throughout the land, and no matter how she looked at it; there was nothing fun about war.
She fluttered up to hover in front of Lemech, seeing the haunted look of lost innocence in his eyes. “Hold out your hand,” she said, waiting patiently for him to do so before landing lightly on it.
“My name is Inariko,” she said with a little curtsey, “although people just call me Ina. Although they call me other things, too,” she added thoughtfully, “not all of them are very nice. But some are okay; some unicorns call me Hanakumi, and my parents used to call me Kimimai, although my brother…”
She stopped talking and looked at him curiously. “Why were you in Minoc,” she asked, although noting his apparent discomfort at the subject, she shrugged. “It’s not important, although you shouldn’t be walking around on your own,” she said, getting to the point of why she wasn’t planning to go to the crypts any more, “I will go with you.”

“Isn’t there always trouble coming this way?” asked Hikaru, without looking up from her journal. It had been a few hours since she’d returned with Yuki and Xylon, and they were all waiting, somewhat impatiently, for news. Not only was it a bad idea to charge into a war zone without knowing what was going on, but also it was an equally bad idea to just abandon the inn, leaving it unprotected from the tender mercies of war.
She’d wanted to go looking for the children again, but for exactly the same reasons that she couldn’t really ride off to defend Minoc, she couldn’t really ride off to look for two children who were heading to that exact same place. Plus, she’d given her word to Yuki that she’d take care of Quiby, and until the patchwork mage had returned to them in all capacities, she figured that her word still stood. Right now, the toothless old feline was curled up in front of the fire in the inn, drying off after bathing the muck out of her fur, and probably still grumbling about losing one of her teeth.
Hikaru finished the sentence she was writing and looked up, capping the inkbottle as she did so.
“What’s up?” she asked, noticing the very real expression of concern on the elven girl’s face.
Jesa explained what she saw through the eyes of the animals, and Hikaru felt the blood draining from her face. After fighting in the undead war of a few years previously, she wasn’t exactly relishing the idea of meeting them on the field of battle again any time soon.
Thankfully, Xylon seemed to have slept through that little bombshell, kneeling beside her sister’s bed with her head resting on the mattress. How she would deal with a run-in with her former kin was anyone’s guess, but Hikaru had an idea that it might not be to their favour.
“You should go down and tell the patrons,” she suggested, her mind already working through plans for defending the inn. “They need to either get ready to fight, or get out of the way.”
She stood swiftly and grabbed her pack, containing her armour, “can I change in your room?”

Stratics Veteran

OOC Sorry if this post is on the long side. I'm useing it to kinda continue the Hidden Cities post I started and never finished. Also sorry for taking so long to post. It's been a busy week. I'm not going to be able to post of a couple weeks becaues I'll be in Utah for a couple weeks (My Great Grandmother passed away) and my grand parents don't have internet. So I'll see everyone in a couple weeks.

IC

<font color=purple>Lamech surpressed a laugh. He liked this pixie.

"My name is Lamech, and you can come with me if you want. If you really want to see what it is like to be a zombie I'll be passing somewhat nearby them."

Lamech started to in a eastward direction and continued talking to Ina, "So are you from Ilshenar? My friend Kysh said there are a lot of Pixies there. He came from Ilshenar but mostly grew up here in Yew forest... Somewhere. He's the one I was just with in Minoc. He's trying to help the people there fight back the Juka."</font color=purple>

____________________________________________________________________

<font color=red>Jesa quickly went downstair and informed everyone still at the in about the undead moving their way. She then headed out side of the Inn and once again tried to listen to the thoughts of the animals to see where the undead were, but her thoughts were turned to the bow she was holding.

She had felt something from the bow...but that wasn't possible, Kysh told her he had been forced to strip the Rod of Ilshen of it's magic. Yet she could feel somthing from the bow.

Jesa decided to try to link her mind with the bow like she had been trying to do with the animals, after all it was when ever she tried to use those powers that she seemed to fell stirrings from the bow. As she tried to link with it the bow suddenly flashed witha white light and then in place of a bow she held a rod identical to the one Kysh used. At that moment she would have been astonishedabout the Rod of Ilshen coming alive again but at the same moment the bow turned into the rod everything around her changed with it. She was no longer standing infront of the Inn. She now found herself standing on the wall of a castle.... in the middle of a battle.

There was a huge army of demons and undead attacking the castle. At first she thought she had been transported to the city of Britan since she didn't recognize the large castle but then noticed most of the soldiers defending the castle were elves... elves wearing the uniform of the hidden cities from where Jesa had come. She was in Ilshenar.... but where she knew there was no place like this in any of the hidden cities, the castle was next to a mountain overlooking a huge plain. To the south a city could be seen burning. Soldiers defending the castle walked by her with out even seeming to notice her. Their attention was on a smaller army of elves trying to fight thier way through the demons and undead to get to the castle.

"What is going on. Her the heck am I," She quietly asked herself.

"This is a memory, and your are not really here. You have unlocked the powers of the Rod of Ilshen, and the rod is now showing you one of it's memories."

Jesa spun around to face a elvish woman standing near her, "Who are you? and why am I being shown this... this.... horrible thing.

"I am also somewhat of a memory, but more. When Ilshen mad this weapon she did it by putting a part of herself into it. I'm that part."

"So your telling me your my Grandmother Ilshen?"

"Yes, I am, and your are being shown this so you can learn."

"Learn what."

"Look."

The force of elves that had been fighting it's way to the castle had arrived. Ilshen motioned Jesa to follow her to where the arriving force was. Jesa was not done with questions so as they walked she continued, "Kysh never mentioned anything like this happening with the Rod our mother made why is that?"

"The rod of Ilshen is much much older then Alexandre's Rod. As time goes the rod my daughter made will gain experience and learn to speak to it's holder like this on has."

Two of the Knights that had just arrived were talking to another Knight. Jesa was stunned to recognize Teanas as one of them.

"Wait where and when is this," then Jesa found her own answer, "... Wait is this Brontas?"

Brontas had been the former capital of the Hidden Cities, that had been built in central Ilshenar. It had been destroyed 50 years ago and now in it's spot stood a new castle run by the Juka. Her eyes turned to the other Knight that was with Teanas. He wore the uniform of the Knight of Virtues, the highest knight of the kingdom, but what she noticed of his face.... how much it resembled her own.

"Father?"

Jesa's father walked up to the Knight she recognized as the Knight of Valor, "Report! Where is the King?!"

The Knight of Valor responded, "Your brother the King is safe. He and the people of the city were able to flee north at the first appearence of the army. Your wife and children are with them."

Jesa's father seemed relived by the news but continued, "What about reinforcments, fromt he Gargoyle City?"

"None, they have seem to have made some sort of treaty with these demons.Terart Skitas is also under siege so our people will attempt to make it to our Ankh Stronghold"

"The Gargoyles are fools. They may have well just handed themselves over to be slaves," Jesa's father looked around at the battle, "It's time to leave. The castle is lost, we must try to catch up and protect the King."

"We'll never make it out. You may have noticed but the demons more or less let you breakthrough and get in here. We're trapped."

Before Jesa's father could answer a cry from the wall interupted, "BALRON! BALRON COMING!"

Jesa followed as they all rushed up to the wall. Sure enough there stood a Balron issuing out a challenge. The Rest of the Demon/undead army stood back. It was clear... the Balron wanted a dual.

Jesa's father turned to the other two Knights, "I'll answer his challenge, you two take the reminder of the soldiers out the back and follow the mountains north. I assure you all eyes will be on the fight."

"Lord Morin. That is a Balron you are intending to fight. Even if you win then you will be alone to face the entire army. This won't work."

"It will work and it's an order."

"Then I will come with you. No man should die alone."

"No I need you to look after the men."

"Teanas will look after the men. You will need help from the power of my sword if you wish to get out of there alive."

Jesa's father hesitated then agreed. In a moment the two elves stood before the Balron The eyes of all the army of monsters upon them. The Knight of Valor stood back as Jesa's father stepped up to the Balron. He pulled out the Rod of Ilshen and it turned into a a large golden war hammer.

"Remember, "Ilshen said to Jesa as they watched, "This rod remembers every weapon it was come in contact with and can copy their magic."

The Balron charged at Jesa's father and he stood calmly.Then just as the Balron was raising it's sword to strike Jesa's father struck the hammer down onto the ground hard. As it hit the ground three rocky spikes jumped out of the ground right in front of the Balron. The Balron not being able to stop in time plowed right through the Spikes. The Balron, wounded now, picked itself up and and struck out at Jesa's father, who dodged the blow easily. The Balron sent an energy bolt at him next but rod of Ilshen blocked it by turning into a shield.

Now as the rod changed once again, it took the from of a blue staff, raising the staff in front of him two gysers of water appeared creating a wall of water between himself and the balron. Another change of the rod and the wall of water became a wall of ice. Then as the Rod of Ilhen took the form of a sword with strange marking on it Jesa's father swung the sword at the wall of Ice. A whirlwind seemed to come off the sword and shaddered the wall of ice as it grew into a wind storm. In a moment the balron was surrounded in a storm of shrarp ice shards.

The balron was now injured with cuts all over it's body. Roaring it started for one more attack on Jesa's father. The Rod of Ilshen changed one more time, now taking the form of the Sword of Valor. Now Jesa's father charged the balron at an almost impossible speed, boosted by the power of the sowrd. The Elf and Balron past each other with blinding speed, Jesa's father stopping soon after with his sword extended to the side the balron had been in... The Balron mearly fell into two pieces, cut in half by the copy of the Sword of Valor.

There was a moment of of silence before the Demonic army realized what happened. After that moment the Demonic army decided to recommence their attack, starting witht he two elves. The Two elves stood back to back. Jesa's father changing the Rod of Ilshen from weapon to weapon using their different magical powers ot keep the forces back, the Knight of Valor using the increased speed and strength given him by the sword cut down and that got to near, but but there were to many demons and undead and it was clear they would not hold out.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Cried Jesa.

"You cannot change a memory. But do not despair, look."

Now dragons were entering the battle field. Five of tem flying low. It took a moment to realize they were attacking the demons.

Jesa's father noticed the dragons and smiled, "Well it would seem my wife has sent some friend. She always was good with animal."

One dragon flew close to the two elvesand hovered above them. Both elves quickly jumped and grabed hold of the dragon's legs. As the other drgaons covered them they started north... away from the demons.

Ilshen turned to Jesa, "The weapon you hold has great power. Use it to help those who are in need, and take care of it."

With those words Ilshen faded and Jesa found herself in frount of the Inn again.Going back inside Jesa realized the whole vision... the memory she had just seen had only taken a few moment. The undead were still on their way to the Inn. Jesa looked at the Rod of Ilshen in her hand. Well.... did she have a surprise for them....</font color=red>

Just a quick note, from the local internet cafe place.
It's all go for me, and I don't know when it won't be (like, my flat should be mine on saturday, although that's assuming my mother's not bluffing, and basically I need to do the movng in thing, not to mention the getting-in-to-work-on-time thing^^)
See you when I see you

Stratics Veteran

<font color=purple>“Well... you said you wanted to know what it was like to be a zombie, looks like you have your chance.”

Lemach crouched in some underbrush as he watched a group of undead cretures march by. He had thought the Juka
were scary. while these cretures were not nearly as strong as the Juka, he found the undead’s cold lifeless
expreissions creepy.

Lemach shivered but he wasn’t sure if it ws from watching the undead or from wearing wet clothes in near freezing
weather. Either way sticking around here wouldn’t be good.

Lemach scooted out from under the bushes and started to quietly slip away, he needed to get back home before he
caught a cold or worse yet the undead found him. At the thought of catching cold however his body reacted before
he could stop it.... he sneezed.

“Oops...” Lemach heard the sound of bones walking towards him, talk about bad time to start catching a cold.

Lemach decided that this just wasn’t going to be his day at all.</font color=purple>

OOC-I'm going to try to get this thread finished up... probly with the defence of the Inn then I'll cover the rest of the brewing war in a new thread. For the new thread I've talked it over with Yuki (who doesnt' have consistent internet access at the moment) and we decided to go ahead and run the next thread alittle different (somewhat simular to a "Choose your own adventure" style story. I have a thead disscussing the idea that's been buried back on page 2 of the list of threads. Hopfully I'll have this thread finished up in the next week or so (not sure if I want to finish it in 1 large post or a few shorter post, if it starts taking me to long to write it out I'll make a few shorter posts).

Stratics Veteran

<font color=red>This was Jesa’s chance. All her life she had been “protected”. She had been taken from her family as a baby
for her protection, and then moved from magic school to magic school for her protection. The first time she
ever met a member of her family was as a captive in a dungeon when her brother can to save her. Well this time she
would show everyone that she wasn’t the helpless girl, this time she was going to be the one protection.

She held the Rod of Ilshen tighter as she made her way alone through the woods towards the undead monsters
making their way towards the Inn. It had belonged to both her grandmother and her father... it had the powers of every
magic weapon it had ever come in contact with. Now she would show Britannia that Kysh isn’t the last hero from
Ilshenar to come from the line of Ilshen.

The animals where being stubborn again with sharing information with her so she was heading towards the last spot
that she knew the undead where out. As she neared the river she heard what sounded like someone playing a lap harp.
Now what kind of idiot would be playing a harp in a forest filled with undead? Jesa approached the source of the
music and was shocked to find the undead creatures she was looking for standing motionless around.... Lemach?!!

The human boy was kneeling giving a concert to the very monsters she was looking to kill!!

“Lemach?!! What are you doing?”

“Giving these guys a music lesson, WADDATHINK I’M DOING!!! I’m playing a song my uncle taught me to
play when ever I’m attacked by monsters.”

As Lemach spoke he hit a few sour notes and a few of the undead creatures began to stir from their trance, “Umm
Jesa I could use some help here!”

“Don’t worry I have it all under control.”

Jesa held the Rod of Ilshen up over her head. This was it, this was her chance. The short metal rod in her hand
changed to take the form of a large war hammer. The weight of the hammer took Jesa by surprise and she stumbled
forward as the hammer came down hard on the ground.

As the came down hard on the ground, large rock spikes hurdled out of the ground shattering many of the skeletons.
One spike however came up right in front of Lemach knocking his harp out of his hands and forcing him to jump
back.

“Hey, you sure you know what your doing!!”

“ Just be quiet and get over here by me so I can finish these guys off.”

As Lemach scrambled over to Jesa the Rod of Ilshen changed it’s form again to the Yellow rod Jesa had seen her
father use in the vision. With a wave of the staff the area containing the undead monsters became enveloped in a
whirlwind. Flying rocks and broken bones made quick work of the remaining undead in the area. It had worked , she
had won she ha-

A bone flew by her then a rock. The whirlwind was too close to her and Jesa realized that she could very well end up
with the same fate she sentenced the monsters too. Jesa froze with fear, this wasn’t how the battle was supposed to go
at all!! She suddenly felt some one grabbing her from behind and pulling her behind a tree as more rocks and bones
pelted the area where she had been standing. Lemach, holding Jesa against the tree with a few noticeable cuts from
small rocks, looked that the remains of the battle field as the wind died down then releasing Jesa, spoke, “Well I’m
impressed, but next time could you do it without breaking my harp?”

Before retorting to is obvious sarcasm, Jesa realized she had dropped the Rod of Ilshen when Lemach pulled her from
danger, “My Rod!! I lost it did you see where I dropped it?!!”

Jesa had just started looking around when she felt Lemach touch her shoulder, “Uhmm... Jesa? I think the Chaos
Dragoon over there found it.”

Jesa first turned to Lemach who had turned sheet white then turned around to where he was pointing to come face to
face with Zeazrom... who was examining the Rod of Ilshen in his hands. </font color=red>

OOC- Well I'm still trying to get a hold of Yuki. For now let's say Ina is hiding somewhere watching.

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